Dealing with Crowds

[amyrising]

When we are in a crowded place I seem to get "motion sickness". All the people coming and going make me a bit dizzy and unstable on my feet. Things like elevators and being in a tall building do the same thing. Does anyone else have this issue? The other day I was shopping with my family and I was feeling a little unstable (kind of like the floor was tilted or I was leaning) and I looked up at some product on the top shelf. When I looked back down I nearly fell straight back on my head. Thankfully my husband was there to steady me.

[misslux]

I definitely start to get (more) unbalanced and anxious in situations where my senses are on overload like in crowds, loud places, etc.

[Marco]

I'm in a big hurry so this will be quick.

I have a number of things that make me dizzy. It's really disconcerting and alarming (especially at first). There
are a number of things that can cause dizziness: Vestibular Disorders, vertigo, proprioperception problems, sensory overload, ear infection (not exhaustive).

Tinnitus where I have ringing or other phantom sound in the ears. I get this frequently in the morning and I "walk on egg shells" to insure I do not fall.

Proprioperception problems: basically being aware of where your body is. Pin the tail on the donkey is a form of proprioception exercise. Or touch your finger to your nose.

Sensory Overload: There are times when my senses & brain are "overwhelmed" and I tend to lock up. I may have to close my eyes to reduce the number of signals my brain is processing. This may also happen if I am startled by a loud sound. After a few seconds, my brain catches up and I am able to resume operation. This is similar to pushing the "pause" button on a music player or when your barely avoid a car accident and you need a moment to recover.

Vertigo is another condition with a few dozen causes and is what you may be calling motion sickness.

See if you can get an appointment with an EENT to help isolate the root cause. You can help some of these conditions by doing silly things like "swinging" in the park with the kids. If necessary, I'll try to respond tomorrow afternoon when I have a bit more time.

[rdmc]

Hi Amy,

Sorry you're having to deal with this, but you're not alone. It's been the discussion of many threads over the years. If you want to go to the Advanced Search from the Search in the blue bar at the top of the website and type in Sensory Overload, you can search Titles and come up with lots of threads.

Here's one to get you started.
http://www.msworld.org/forum/showthr...nsory+overload

[amyrising]

Thank you so much. I find a lot of...oh what is the word...comfort, yeah, comfort in that thread. My family thinks I have become an unbearable grouch. Sometimes the questions (I have a 5 and 6 year old) make me almost lose my mind. I have always been very patient and enjoyed the inquisitive nature of my children (I also have a 22 and 19 yr old from a previous marriage). I feel overloaded most of the time in public or when they are asking a million questions. My ability to multi-task is gone...I just can't manage it. One thing, one thing at a time PLEASE!!

[Cat Mom]

Yup!

Any kind of over-stimulation does it for sure. Being in a crowd is one of those triggers, as is not being able to do things in my own time, and of course multi-tasking.
Jen